Guinea's Ebola death toll rises to 81

CONAKRY, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The Ebola virus has killed 81 people out of 127 confirmed cases in Guinea so far this year, according to a latest update from the Guiean Health Ministry.

Guinean Health Ministry official Sakoba Keita said as of May 2, six new cases were reported in the West African country, with one in capital Conakry and five in the southeast town of Guekedou, the epicenter of the epidemic.

First discovered in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks in Sudan and in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), the Ebola virus was named after the Ebola River where the DR Congo outbreak was found in a nearby village.

There is still no cure for the deadly Ebola virus disease which has an incubation period between two and 21 days and carries a fatality rate of up to 90 percent.

The WHO defines the Ebola virus disease, formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, as "a severe, often fatal illness" and "one of the world's most virulent diseases."